


Artistic Groove

by 10vely_Bunny



Series: SuperM Gay Rights [1]
Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band), SuperM (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:35:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29829156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/10vely_Bunny/pseuds/10vely_Bunny
Summary: You leave me here and thereYou move freely, you make me want to danceA little darker in colorI soak into the beautiful youAU Prompt: character A is stuck in the wrong class and B thinks it's hilarious
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Lee Taeyong, Lee Taemin/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten
Series: SuperM Gay Rights [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2192859
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	Artistic Groove

Trainers squeaking on the floor, hand clamped around the strap of his training bag, Taemin broke a half-jog as he turned the next corridor.

The campus map had said that the dance building was in this district but that was about where the helpful signage ended. Whoever thought of making the building names and codes totally different was the devil in his eyes now. He had a slot booked, dammit!

Outside of one of the classrooms, a staff member tapped the toe of her sparkly heels on the floor, arms crossed and looked impatient. Normally, he'd never dream of approaching someone so annoyed but Taemin was in a tight spot. Even a point in a direction would be a blessing now.

"Excuse me!" Taemin heaved his bag a little higher and slowed a few feet from the woman. "I'm late for my studio -"

Her brows flew upwards. 

"I lock the doors five minutes before class starts," She bit out, long earrings rattled as she tossed her ponytail. "You're lucky I waited around for stragglers before going in." She looked him over but caught on his bulging bag. "This is just a taster session -" But Taemin thought he was getting his own choreography slot? "- so we’ll provide the equipment this time." What? Like shoes?  _ What _ ? "Next time, be sure to bring your own… if you continue."

Taemin blinked, following along helplessly as the women started herding him through the doors and locking them behind them. 

"Of course, I will," He spoke, a little shocked, "It’s an integral part of my degree…"

The woman started off down the small side-corridor, heels clicking loudly, and Taemin hurried after her so as not to fall behind. 

"We don't get a lot of people willing to stick with passion," She replied, "Everyone thinks they are a born genius until they find something they don't grasp instantly. Only then, once you’ve weeded out the stranglers, do you find the truly talented."

Taemin kept his eyes on the corridor ahead of them. This woman was terrifying. If she was going to be his personal tutor, he might have to look into speaking to the staff. He was a little… triggered... back to his summer internship with the ballet companies. It had been both a blessing and a curse that his Japanese was rusty; he couldn't understand the snide locker room remarks that way. In their industry, there was  _ strict _ and then there was  _ brutal _ . He could only hope she’d be more kindly and lean towards the former. 

Finally, towards what must've been the back end of the building, the woman led them towards a plain wooden door, the glass built into it misty for privacy. Hand on the handle, the woman turned to him one last time. "You are over-age, correct?"

Taemin stared at her. Choreography Studies was a postgraduate course.  _ Do I… look like a gifted child? _ He really didn't think so. "Yes?"

She nodded sharply, "Good. Set yourself up in the free space with an easel while we wait for the model to come out."

Wait.  _ Easel? _

Taemin suddenly had the terrible thought that she might  _ not _ be part of the Dance Department. His mind blanked, "Model -?"

But the woman was already yanking the door open, revealing an almost blindingly bright room filled with people, and nudging him inside before Taemin could explain that he was actually a Master’s student looking for the  _ dance _ studios not the  _ artist _ ones and -

The students inside were chatting happily amongst themselves, wearing aprons and paint-smeared oversized shirts and clipping pages to their stands. They all looked relatively young - as in, undergrad - and like they all knew each other. When the door clicked shut again, they turned to peer at the newcomers and Taemin felt heat prickle the back of his neck.

He tried desperately to ignore the flurry of whispers, turning instead to try and explain to the teacher that he really was in the wrong place -

"There’s an easel over there," She pointed vaguely and abandoned him. 

Oh god...

"Alright, everyone! Sinks are at the back. If you need the bathroom, there is one attached to my office, where our model is currently getting changed so please don't go in until they have come out. Any medium you feel comfortable with is acceptable, if you want help or advice then please do raise your hand but be mindful that you might be blocking someone else’s view -"

Taemin was trapped. 

"Hey! The free spot’s over there," A pretty girl with dramatic cat eyeliner leaned over and whispered to him. She had plastic gloves on and a huge stick of charcoal in hand. At Taemin’s blank look, her mouth curved sideways. "Two rows back from me."

Like a coward, he nodded and followed the nice girl’s advice, slinking along the wall until he spotted the free space and awkwardly weaving his way over. He dropped his bag to the floor and kept his head ducked, aware of the eyes watching. The whispering hadn't quite died and Taemin just  _ knew _ that everyone understood what the teacher had missed, Taemin was in the wrong damn class. God this was embarrassing. 

He peeled off his leather jacket, not wanting to get anything on the favoured navy cut he wore almost every day, and sighed a little. He didn't really care about his jeans, ripped to hell anyway, but he had liked this tee-shirt. Onew-hyung had given it to him before he’d graduated. Thankfully, there was a ratty apron hooked on the easel frame and he pulled it on quickly, noting the pencil set into the groove beneath the pad of paper. Taemin could… probably… sketch for an hour?  _ Probably _ . And then beg his Tutors for forgiveness and never show his face in this building again. Great.

"Hey," The guy next to him leaned over to murmur quietly, "is this your first class?"

Taemin glanced over and promptly swallowed his tongue.

Dressed in a blue boiler suit several sizes too big, cuffs rolled up and paint splattered all over it with the top half tied around his slim waist, the cutest guy Taemin had probably ever met smiled nicely at him. He was lean, wearing just a white tank that was thin enough to show that the tattoos on his arms were not the only ones he had, and his dark hair was pushed back from his face by a buttercup-yellow sweatband. The brush in his hand was about half the width of Taemin’s palm and he was already painting in a deep purple background. 

"I’m not an art student," Taemin said and then wanted to slap his own face. What a way to kick things off.

Cute Guy’s brows winged upwards, but his smile only grew wider. His nose scrunched and he had eye-whiskers. This was officially hell. "Aw, cool! You’re just here for fun?" He turned to the guy on his left. "Looks like you’re not the only amateur here, Yongie!"

Taemin craned his neck and then blinked rapidly. Was everyone here stupidly pretty? 

‘Yongie’ had a jawline that could cut diamond and hair the palest of pinks. He was also looking decidedly panicked and Taemin felt a pang of kinsmanship. Honestly,  _ same _ .

"I don't know why I thought this was a good idea." He hissed, dropping a stick of coloured… chalk? And clicking his tongue when it snapped on impact. "This is obviously all your fault. We could've gone to the cinema. Terrible idea, Ten, you’re never picking activities again."

Cute Guy - Ten? Or was that a nickname? - snorted, flashing Taemin another smile. "You said you wanted to learn how to draw!" His attention refocused on Taemin. "Is that why you’ve joined too?"

Taemin couldn't keep up the pretence any longer. Rather explain first than be thought of as shit when he mangled whatever they were supposed to be painting. "I, er, actually got lost… and the lady -" He pointed at the teacher still lecturing at the front. "- thought I was looking for her class."

Ten’s eyes widened and then he snorted loudly, clapping a hand to his mouth and uncaring for the paint pressed to his chin. He even blushed prettily and Taemin, usually put out when laughed at, didn't even care that Ten thought his suffering was funny. His hand dropped, white teeth flashing. "Are you joking?"

Taemin fiddled with the pencil for want of something to do with his hands and really wished he was cool enough to be cracking jokes like that. At the front, the teacher was starting to set up a small podium, draping a plain white sheet over a plastic chair.

"I wish I was," He sighed, laughing a little because this would probably be hilarious… one day. When he had the emotional distance. "I’m, ah, Taemin, by the way."

Ten’s eyes widened in realisation before he quickly switched his brush to his left hand and reached the right one out. "I’m Ten. Oh -" He noticed the paint on his palm and carefully closed his hand shut again. "Sorry. So, you got lost… are you new?"

Taemin tried to tell himself that he didn't  _ want _ paint on his palm. "Kind of?" He hedged. "They moved the dance building since I did my degree." At Ten’s quizzical look, Taemin hitched a shoulder. "I had an internship in Japan for the past year, so I’m doing my Master's now. Choreography and Performance Art."

"Really!" Ten brightened, looking so genuinely delighted. Taemin’s heart thumped. He really  _ was _ pretty. "I’m majoring in dance, are you the postgraduate TA we were told to expect this week? Oh  _ wow _ ," His hands fluttered. ‘Yongie’ glanced at him, visibly amused and Taemin hoped that meant what he wanted it to. "What a small world!"

There was a sudden burst of chatter from the front of the room and Taemin looked over in time to see a familiar man drop his robe and climb, stark naked, to drape himself over the sheet-covered chair. 

‘Yongie’ made a noise like a dying goose.

Taemin’s mouth dropped open. This couldn't be happening.

"Is that -  _ Baekhyun _ -hyung?"

Mischievous eyes dragged across the room before suddenly snapping back to his, Baekhyun's mouth dropping open in surprise before it broke into a truly evil grin. Staring right into Taemin's wide eyes, he propped an elbow on the back of the chair and rested his fist in his white hair, the opposite leg bending to rest on the edge of the seat. Giving Taemin the perfect view of his junk…  _ real _ nice, Hyung.

Beside him, Ten stepped closer to him, bare arm brushing Taemin’s t-shirt sleeve. His eyes were fixed on Taemin, focused and the only person not outright staring at Baekhyun's naked figure. "You know him?" There was something strange about the lightness of his tone.

Over Ten’s shoulder, his friend was going pinker than his hair. His box of crayon-things had spilled over but he didn't seem to even be aware of it.

"Yeah," Taemin turned towards him. "He’s my best friend’s older brother. I didn't… er, expect to see him naked?"

Ten smiled, looking pleased. He didn't step back. "We’re doing life studies."

Oh. Right.  _ Shit _ .

Taemin glanced worriedly at his pencil and then back over to Ten, who had picked up one of those palette things Taemin thought no one actually used in real life. He was mixing colours, swiping quick blocks of peach over his purple canvas and immediately - magically - catching the essence of Baekhyun’s pose. Oh, god, Taemin could practically see the talent dripping off him. He was going to leave his class and complain to Jongin for  _ hours. _

"Um, Ten?"

Ten’s dark eyes slid over to him.

"I  _ really _ don’t know how to draw."

Ten’s mouth crumpled, like he was trying not to laugh again, before he nodded a little. "I’ll give you some pointers, Hyung." The suffix made Taemin feel a little breathless and Ten seemed to pick up on that, smiling even wider. A pause, deliberate and weighty with something. "If," He stressed slowly, "you buy me a coffee before dance class later?"

‘Yongie’ barked a small laugh at Ten’s boldness but the younger man only straightened his shoulders, obviously not going to take it back.

Taemin’s mouth curved, surprised and flattered and charmed and -  _ hell _ . So much for leaving this class and trying to convince himself that bumbling idiots were appealing to artists, trying to make up for it in dance studio sessions and praying for a miracle. This worked too. 

"Americano?"

Ten’s grin really was beautiful. "Deal."

  
  


(Taeyong crowed his distinctive laugh, bright and echoing and a little crazy, as the door snapped shut behind Taemin-hyung. He needed to hurry off, he'd explained, and try and explain to his tutors why he'd missed the first session of the semester. 

"Well, that was exciting," Taeyong smirked.

Ten rolled his brush holster up and knotted the string before shoving it in his bag. "Eunsoo-ssaem said they still use Taemin-Hyung's final project as examples to the other years. Didn't he get full marks across the board? I'm excited to see what class is like -"

"Ten," Taeyong snorted into the palm of his hand. "The mysterious hot guy comes in and you land a date in ten minutes? That's so funny…"

Ten couldn't hide his grin any longer, that thrill of nerves bubbling in his chest still.

Taemin, coming through the door with his honey blonde undercut and wearing those ripped jeans and that leather jacket? Half the room fancied him off the bat. But the way he'd shuffled nervously and smiled so shyly at Seulgi when she helped him? God, Ten wasn't the only who'd melted. Just a  _ little.  _ And Taemin had looked at _ him  _ like  _ that. Wow. _

_ " _ Maybe, if you're nice, I'll convince Taemin-hyung to give me that model's number?"

Seeing Taeyong trip was gratifying too.)

**Author's Note:**

> A/N - for Rinirise~ and me, because there is no where near enough content for my beloved Taemin/Ten 
> 
> As always, don't like? Don't read!


End file.
